Bearings



y 3, 1956 R. A. SCHAEFER ET AL 2,752,667

BEARINGS Original Filed Aug. 20, 1947 N m. w W1 Tmsm J N R fM 6 S VM M V w w w GWFLI 2 A e m HMM & T a 7% Y B BEARINGS Ralph A. Schaefer, Cleveland, Joseph F. Cemess, East Cleveland, and Wilbert H Morrison, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignors to Clevite Corporation, a corporation of Ohio Griginal application August 20, 1947, SerialjNo. 769,616, now Patent No. 2,611,163, dated September 23, 1952. Divided and this application September 6, 1950, Serial No. 188,986

4 Claims. (Cl. 29196.6)

The present invention, relating as indicated to a bimetallic strip, is more particularly directed to the manufacture of bimetallic strip composed of steel as a backing This application is a division of application 769,616, filed Auguist 20, 1947, now Patent No. 2,611,163, dated September 23, 1952.

Molten aluminum or aluminum base alloys when in contact with high loads.

The present invention is based upon the discovery. that if a layer of a metal such as bond either at or near the bend.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related i d States Paten Patented July 3, 1956 formation of the iron-aluminum phases.

' of aluminum alloys nickel, cobalt or its alloys at a considerably slower rate than with Iron the primary ingredient of low carbon steel This slow rate maintaining it in a horizontal position. The strip as it passes through the pouring box carries a layer of 2.1mm which flows onto its upper surface and which is there sized by means of a sizing die or shoe 5, extending some distance from the pouring box proper and in the direction of movement of the strip. A. short distance from the pouring box proper and beneath the plate 3' are a plurality of water sprays 6,'which flood the bottom of the support and contact directly with the steel strip 7 to rapidly chill the strip and solidify the molten aluminum beginning about the point marked 8 in the sizing die 5. The outer portion of the die has a tapering lower surface 9 from the point 8 to its outer end to fa- "amass? strip may, of course,

cilitate drawing the composite strip through that portion has solidified and where The contacting the alumiof the die in which the aluminum it might tend to contact and stick to the die proper. die may be formed in thatportion hum of any suitable material resistant to the action of molten aluminum and may be formed, for example, of block graphite or other similar material.

in carrying out the present method a specific example may be given as followszj Low carbon SAE 1010 steel, either hot or cold rolled, and approximately 5 to 6 inches wide and from .040.080 inch thick, is cleaned and etched in the conventional manner and is then run through an electroplating bath to receive the coating of nickel already specified. The electrolyte in the bath maybe a conventional nickel bath such as a Watts bath and the steel is plated with a layer of nickel, which for most purposes will be approximately .0005 inch thick. The strip after being dried is passed into the entrance end 10 of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 in which a reducing at mosphere is maintained against the nickel layer and grad ually brought up to a temperature of approximately 1200 F. by suitable heating means at the'point where the strip passes into the pouring box proper. Various reducing atmospheres may be employed but a suitable one consists of 93% nitrogen and 7% hydrogen.

The composite material resulting from the above method is shown in Fig.2, in which the steel strip is of the order of thickness stated above and carries an aluminum layer on its upper surface having a thickness of approximately .020 to .030 inch, interposted between the two, of course, and bonding the two metals together is the barrier layer of nickel or cobalt of approximately .0005 inch.

By the use of the sizing die 5 we have found it possible to form a layer of aluminum bonded to the steel which in thickness will approximate very closely the thickness desired for subsequent machining operations.

There are, of course, many uses for aluminumcoated steel in which the steel will have a coating of the thickness of the order of .020 inch instead of a mere dipped coating in which the thickness is .001-.002 inch and it is unnecessary to list such uses although one example in which such a material is of decided advantage is a hearing 16, which is-shown in Fig. 4. In this figure we have shown only a semi-cylindrical bearing but the composite be employed with a flat slide or a semi-cylindrical or cylindrical or other suitable bearing forms. As a bearing, the use of certain alloys of aluminum on steel has heretofore not been employed because of the extremely short life of composite aluminum-steel materials heretofore made while aluminum alloys of the type possessing the bearing qualities can only be used alone when employed in a very considerable thickness because of the-low tensile strength of the aluminum.

It, of course, will be understood that the process described and the products thereof is useful for articles of pure aluminum bonded to steel as well as alloys of aluminum in which aluminum is the major constituent. For bearing purposes, for example, there are several high aluminum alloys which have been used for bearings which can be satisfactorily bonded to steel by the present method, producing a new, economical and satisfactory composite bearing material.

We claim:

1. An arcuate body comprising a composite, bimetallic strip composed principally of a malleable and ductile cast aluminum alloy and a steel strip united throughout their contiguous surfaces by a ductile and continuous adherent thin bonding-layer of nickel electroplated on said steel strip from .00025" to .001" in thickness, the bonding layer being separate and distinct from the steel strip, and the inter-metallic zone between the bonding layer and the cast aluminum layer being a minimum, said bimetallic strip being bent to form an arcuate body without rupturing the bonding layer from the steel strip or from the cast aluminum.

2. An arcuate body as set forth in claim 1 characterized by the cast layer of aluminum being of the order of .020 thick.

3. An arcuate body as set forth in claim 1 in which the cast aluminum layer is approximately .020 to .030

thick.

4. The composite, bimetallic element of claim 1 in which there is a reaction layer between the nickel and aluminum which is extremely thin, .000020" to .000070" thick.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS of the order of 

1. AN ARCUATE BODY COMPRISING A COMPOSITE, BIMETALLIC STRIP COMPOSED PRINCIPALLY OF A MALLEABLE AND DUCTILE CAST ALUMINUM ALLOY AND A STEEL STRIP UNITED THROUGHOUT THEIR CONTIGUOUS SURFACES BY A DUCTILE AND CONTINUOUS ADHERENT THIN BONDING LAYER OF NICKEL ELECTROPLATED ON SAID STEEL STRIP FROM .00025" TO .001" IN THICKNESS, THE BONDING LAYER BEING SEPARATE AND DISTINCT FROM THE STEEL STRIP, AND THE INTERMETALLIC ZONE BETWEEN THE BONDING LAYER AND THE CAST ALUMINUM LAYER BEING A MINIMUM, SAID BIMETALLIC STRIP BEING BENT TO FORM AN ARCUATE BODY WITHOUT RUPTURING THE BONDING LAYER FROM THE STRIP OR FROM THE CAST ALUMINUM. 